DDR2: 4GB DIMM, anyone?...

[Mephistopheles]

This is just a question of mine...

I was reading up on DDR2 and its implications... And, while latencies, clock rates and therefore bandwidths have all been increased, there was this detail that caught my attention...

DDR2 enables higher densities. Much higher densities; say maybe 4+GB DIMMs. Is this right?... A required technology in order to really exploit 64-bit addressing, then. But why is Intel pushing it then, not AMD?...

Am I missing something here?...

 

[CaptainNemo]

4GB DIMMS are already available, but they cost $7000 each (as you probably know).

I don't think desktops with 4GB (or multiples of 4GB) are going to be here very soon, especially when 99% (or whatever) of users don't need more than 1GB.

When 1 or 2GB DIMMs become the norm, then interest in affordable 4GB DIMMs will pick up. At the moment, the only people who need 4GB DIMMs are the supercomputing crowd.



"Some mice have two buttons. Macintosh has one. So it's extremely difficult to push the wrong button." - Apple ad. circa 1984.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Of course, yes. But DDR2 enables production of higher-density DIMMs, and it is cheaper, that's all. From a techical point of view, DDR2 is much more likely to make high-density memory prices attractive in the long run.

 

[CaptainNemo]

DDR-2 should be cheaper and more error tolerant because of the reduced clock speeds (i.e. DDR400 performance using only 100MHz), but is it significantly different from DDR in a mechanical sense.

I'm probably wrong, but haven't memory prices have always been determined by supply/demand and economies of scale? Whenever Micron (or whoever) move the technology up a notch (i.e. from 512 megabit to 1 gigabit modules), the price structure moves down a notch (i.e. 512Mb DIMMS are now selling for what 256Mb Dimms use to sell for). I can't see 4GB DIMMs becoming affordable until many more people want or need them.

"Some mice have two buttons. Macintosh has one. So it's extremely difficult to push the wrong button." - Apple ad. circa 1984.

 

[Mentor_1]

"...clock speeds"

I take it that you mean, CLOCK RATES.


Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_rate

vs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed


I have yet to see a computer get up and move around the room...

WAY too many "experts" succumbing to the [often] non-technical marketing departments and/or non-engineering masses! Often referred to as the Dvorak Syndrome.

 

[cjl]

Nice thread necromancy...